Alfred Banks grew up in Uptown New Orleans, raised amid the city's vibrant sounds and tough realities. He discovered rap early, inspired by his older brother Orlandas, a gifted artist who nearly signed with Cash Money Records before schizophrenia took his life — a loss that shaped Banks' path. At 17, in 2009, Banks performed his first show at a local hip-hop event under the name Lyriqs da Lyraciss, building the UnderDogCentral brand to lift up overlooked talent. He switched to his real name in 2015.
Banks earned national attention: Complex named him one of 10 rising New Orleans MCs, and he was featured in The Fader, HipHopDx, Okayplayer, and DJBooth. His 2017 concept album The Beautiful — a raw record about his brother's death and mental-health struggles — debuted at #12 on iTunes' Rap/Hip-Hop charts and #3 on Bandcamp's Rap charts, earning partnerships with the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) and UnMaskNOLA. He formed the duo SaxKixAve with Tank and the Bangas saxophonist Albert Allenback, whose 2020 Best of the Beat nomination followed.
His accolades stack up: 2018 OffBeat Best Hip-Hop Artist, 2019 Big Easy Award for Best Rapper from Gambit, and a Grammy nomination as part of the New Orleans Nightcrawlers' 'Smooth Like a Pelican' (2023). His song 'Greatness' with the Soul Rebels was the televised NCAA tournament anthem; 'UnderDogCentral' appeared in the Netflix film Burning Sands and 'HomeComing' in Disney+'s The Crossover and a Volkswagen ad campaign. His 2021 solo album One Guy Standing By Himself and the December 2025 EP The Survivor's Condition (produced by Pellow Talk) keep him among the city's most thoughtful hip-hop voices.
